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Abstract:

A method and a system for currency weighted cross border listing exposure
utilize a favorability factor that may be determined between a first and
a second currency. A search may be executed that returns listings in both
currencies. A subset of those listings in the second currency may then be
presented in accordance with the favorability factor.

Claims:

1. (canceled)

2. A system comprising: A currency exchange rate evaluation module
(CEREM) including a hardware element, the CEREM configured to: identify a
first plurality of item transactions in a first currency for a first
plurality of purchasers; identify a second plurality of item transactions
in a second currency for a second plurality of purchasers, the second
currency being different than the first currency, the second plurality of
purchasers being a subset of the first plurality of purchasers with each
member corresponding to at least one of the first plurality of item
transactions; and compare use of the second currency to use of the first
currency by the second plurality of purchasers to determine a
favorability factor between the first currency and the second currency.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the item transactions are within a
single network-based marketplace.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the network-based marketplace includes
a plurality of sites, each site including a default currency.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first currency is a default
currency for a first site in the plurality of sites and the first
plurality of purchasers is identified by association with the first site.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the second currency is a default
currency for a second site in the plurality of sites, the second site
being different than the first site.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the favorability factor is a discrete
classification of the first currency in relation to the second currency.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the discrete classification is at least
one of strongly favorable, favorable, neutral, unfavorable, and strongly
unfavorable.

9. A non-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions that,
when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations
comprising: identifying a first plurality of item transactions in a first
currency for a first plurality of purchasers; identifying a second
plurality of item transactions in a second currency for a second
plurality of purchasers, the second currency being different than the
first currency, the second plurality of purchasers being a subset of the
first plurality of purchasers with each member corresponding to at least
one of the first plurality of item transactions; and comparing use of the
second currency to use of the first currency by the second plurality of
purchasers to determine a favorability factor between the first currency
and the second currency.

10. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the item transactions
are within a single network-based marketplace.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the network-based
marketplace includes a plurality of sites, each site including a default
currency.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first currency
is a default currency for a first site in the plurality of sites and the
first plurality of purchasers is identified by association with the first
site.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the second currency
is a default currency for a second site in the plurality of sites, the
second site being different than the first site.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the favorability
factor is a discrete classification of the first currency in relation to
the second currency.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the discrete
classification is at least one of strongly favorable, favorable, neutral,
unfavorable, and strongly unfavorable.

16. A method comprising: identifying a first plurality of item
transactions in a first currency for a first plurality of purchasers;
identifying a second plurality of item transactions in a second currency
for a second plurality of purchasers, the second currency being different
than the first currency, the second plurality of purchasers being a
subset of the first plurality of purchasers with each member
corresponding to at least one of the first plurality of item
transactions; and comparing use of the second currency to use of the
first currency by the second plurality of purchasers to determine a
favorability factor between the first currency and the second currency.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the item transactions are within a
single network-based marketplace.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the network-based marketplace
includes a plurality of sites, each site including a default currency.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first currency is a default
currency for a first site in the plurality of sites and the first
plurality of purchasers is identified by association with the first site.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the second currency is a default
currency for a second site in the plurality of sites, the second site
being different than the first site.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the favorability factor is a discrete
classification of the first currency in relation to the second currency.

[0003] In a network-based publication system, or marketplace, product or
service listings may exist for multiple countries and in multiple
currencies. Typically a user may search for listings on a site located in
one country and one currency. The publication system may present some
listings from a second country and a second currency. Traditionally the
number of foreign listings presented to users was manually configured.

[0004] Manually determining whether an exchange rate is favorable between
the domestic and foreign currencies may be slow and inaccurate. Further,
there may be no baseline by which to compare two currencies due to
continual fluctuations in the exchange rate. Also, as is often the case,
lacking foreign and domestic listings that can be determined to be
directed at the same product or service may preclude simply comparing
foreign and domestic listings to determine whether the exchange rate is
favorable in one direction of the other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not
limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

[0006] FIG. 1 is an overview of a network-based publication system
spanning multiple countries and currencies.

[0016] FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic representation illustrating a machine in
the example form of a computer system which may be part of an example
embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Example methods and systems for currency weighted cross border
listing exposure are described. In the following description, for
purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order
to provide a thorough understanding of example embodiments. It will be
evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the inventive subject
matter may be practiced without these specific details.

[0018] Some system components below may be described as a module. A module
may be implemented in software, hardware, or both. It will be evident
that any implementation that allows the module to perform its stated
function is permissible.

[0019] Network-based publication systems and marketplaces may change the
presentation of foreign listings, i.e., listings specifying a different
currency than the currency of a current user, based on the currency
exchange rate between two countries and currencies. For example, if a
user is searching for listings in the United States ("U.S."), in U.S.
dollars, and the exchange rate of the dollar is favorable against the
United Kingdom ("U.K.") pound, then more U.K. listings may be presented
to users. This may be implemented by calculating a favorability factor
between the two currencies and weighting the foreign or domestic listings
with the favorability factor. Because listings are generally weighted
based on other factors, such as price or calculated proximity to the
search request, adding the favorability factor to the weighting will
automatically adjust the number of foreign listings presented to users.
In this way users may receive listings from a wider variety of sources
because the number of foreign listings may be increased when they are a
good value and not on a static and arbitrary determination by the
operators of the publication system.

[0020] Problems may exist in determining whether an exchange rate is
favorable between two currencies. First, one may attempt to find listings
that provide the same product or service in each currency, apply the
exchange rate to listings in one currency, and compare the two sets of
listings. This approach is problematic because listing authors may not
list identical products or services in an identifiable way, i.e., it may
not be possible to determine if two listings in fact are offering the
same product or service, or listings for the same product or service may
not exist in both currencies. Second, although the exchange rate is
available, there may be no baseline to compare equality in currencies,
i.e., the point at which both currencies have the same purchasing power,
and thus no way to determine if one currency has surpassed another. For
example, the dollar could be gaining on the pound for years and still not
be equal to, or provide the purchasing power of, the pound.

[0021] To calculate the favorability factor the network-based publication
system may examine the behavior of its users. One analysis that may be
performed is to determine a first currency associated with a number of
users. For example, if users are registered with a site in the U.S., they
may be associated with U.S. dollars. In another example, the predominant
currency used in a user's transactions may be used to determine the
association. Once the first currency is determined, transactions by those
users in a second currency may be compared with transactions in the first
currency to determine periods where the users have determined that the
exchange rate is favorable in the second currency. For example, if users
typically transact in dollars but currently have instigated many
transactions in pounds, then it may be determined that the exchange rate
is favorable towards the pound.

Architecture

[0022] FIG. 1 is an overview of a network-based publication system
spanning multiple countries and currencies. It may include a first site
110, which is associated with U.S. dollars and in a first country 115
here labeled the U.S., and a second site 120, which is associated with
U.K. pounds and in a second country 125 here labeled the U.K.

[0023] In one embodiment a user 105 may be in the U.S. In other
embodiments the user 105 may be in any other country capable of
interacting with the sites 110 and 120. The user 105 may connect with the
sites 110 and 120 through a network, for example, the internet. The user
105 may use any device capable of interacting with the sites 110 and 120,
for example, a smart-phone, or a desktop computer with a variety of
software including a web browser or a dedicated software program. The
user 105 may be affiliated with site 110, site 120, or both.

[0024] In various embodiments the user 105 may connect directly to either
site 110 or 120 to search for listings. The sites 110 and 120 may also
connect to each other to provide listings in the other country and
currency, in response to a search initiated by user 105. For example, if
the user 105 conducted a search on the U.S. 110 site, the U.S. site 110
may communicate with the U.K. site 120 to search for listings to present
to the user 105. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill that the
inventive subject matter does not limit the sites to the U.S. and the
U.K., nor are the currencies limited to dollars and pounds.

Platform Architecture

[0025] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment for a
weighted cross border listing exposure system 200, including a front end
205, a currency exchange rate evaluation module ("CEREM") 210, and a
listing evaluation module 215.

[0026] In one embodiment the front end 205 includes any collection of
hardware and software to accept a user 105 search request, execute the
search, and present search results to a user 105. A more detailed
description of the possible front end 205 components is described below
with respect to FIGS. 5 and 6. In various embodiments these components
may include one or more sites, with sites in different countries, such as
sites 110 and 120 shown in FIG. 1. In other embodiments the listings for
different countries may be aggregated into a single site.

[0027] In various embodiments the CEREM 210 may be software, hardware, or
combination of both, to calculate a favorability factor between two or
more currencies. For clarity the following examples may simply describe
determining the favorability factor between two currencies, but it is
noted that the same systems and processes may be used to calculate a
favorability factor between more than two currencies.

[0028] The CEREM 210 may be notified by the front end 205 that listings
from two sites, first site 110 and second site 120 for example, have been
found in response to a user 105 requested search. The CEREM 210 may then
determine a favorability factor between the currency of the first site
110, dollars for example, and the currency of the second site 120, pounds
for example. The favorability factor may be determined through various
means, including, but not limited to, comparing use of the two currencies
in one or many users' 105 transactions.

[0029] The CEREM 210, after determining a favorability factor between the
two currencies, may communicate the favorability factor to the listing
evaluation module 215. In various embodiments the favorability factor may
be a number, or weight, indicating the direction of favorability as well
as a degree of favorability. For example, if the favorability factor
ranged from -10 to 10, a number less than 0 indicating that the first
currency is favorable over the second, then a favorability factor of 5
may indicate that the second currency is moderately favorable over the
first currency. In other embodiments, other numbers and ranges of numbers
may be used. In some embodiments the favorability factor may be a binary
value, for example: favorable and unfavorable. In some embodiments the
favorability factor may be a number of discrete classifications, for
example: strongly unfavorable, unfavorable, neutral, favorable, and
strongly favorable. In still other embodiments any scheme indicating the
exchange rate favorability between the two currencies could be used.

[0030] In various embodiments the listing evaluation module 215 may be
software, hardware, or any combination of software and hardware. In some
embodiments the listing evaluation module 215 may determine which
listings are presented to a user 105. In some embodiments the listing
evaluation module 215 may accept listings returned from a search and a
number of factors which may influence the way listings are presented to
users. In some embodiments the listing evaluation module 215 may weight
listings to determine whether they are presented to users as well as the
order in which listings are presented. In some embodiments the listing
evaluation module 215 may use external criteria to determine which
listings to present, for example, limiting the number of foreign listings
at a given site. In some embodiments the listing evaluation module 215
manages the number of impressions a listing receives at a given site,
where a listing impression is the number of views a listing receives
across a number of users 105.

[0031] The listing evaluation module 215 may accept the favorability
factor from the CEREM 210 and apply it to determine which listings to
present to one or more users 105. In some embodiments the favorability
factor may be a weight factor, among other weight factors, applied to the
listings. In some embodiments the favorability factor may be a weight
that is applied only to the listings in the second currency, or foreign
listings. In some embodiments, the favorability factor may influence the
order in which the foreign listings are presented. In some other
embodiments, the favorability factor may be a weight to influence the
number of foreign listings to present and the total number of foreign
listings to present may be limited to a predetermined value. For example,
if a user 105 searched for a pair of shoes on the U.S. site 110, shoe
listings may be returned from the U.S. site 110 and the U.K. site 120.
The listing evaluation module may then accept the favorability factor
from the CEREM 210, in addition to other weight factors, and weight the
returned listings. If the favorability factor, continuing the example
from above, was 5, then the U.K. listings would be preferred over the
U.S. listings if all other factors are equal. Thus, the U.K. listings may
be featured more often and more prominently--ordered such that they
appear at the top of the listings presented to the user 105--than the
U.S. listings. However, even though the U.K. listings may be preferred, a
predetermined value may limit the total number of listings, or
impressions, that are presented.

[0032] The listing evaluation module 215 may communicate the listings,
after the favorability factor has been considered, to the front end 205
to present to the user 105.

[0033] FIG. 3a is a block diagram illustrating an example system 300 for
determining an exchange rate favorability factor, including the CEREM 210
and a data storage device 305. The data storage device 305 may further
include consumer transaction data 310.

[0034] The CEREM 210 may be coupled to the data storage device 305 such
that the CEREM 210 may analyze the consumer transaction data 310. The
data storage device 305 may be located at any site, for example either
site 110 or 120, it may be centralized into a data warehouse, or it may
be distributed across a number of sites. One of ordinary skill in the art
will recognize that the data storage device 305 may be any storage device
containing the consumer transaction data 310 and accessible by the CEREM
210.

[0035] The consumer transaction data 310 may include consumer transactions
for many users. The transactions may include multiple transaction
details, including the user and currency involved in the transaction. In
other embodiments the consumer transactions may provide pointers, keys,
or other signals to indicate where the consumer and currency information
for a given transaction may be obtained. In some embodiments the consumer
transaction data 310 contains consumer transactions back to the first
transaction of each user 105. In other embodiments the consumer
transaction data 310 may be limited to a period of time, for example, two
years.

[0036] The CEREM 210 may analyze the consumer transaction data 310 in a
number of ways to determine the favorability factor. For example, the
CEREM 210 may determine the first currency for a number of users 105. The
CEREM 210 may then find transactions of those users 105 in which the
transaction involved the second currency. This may indicate that the user
105 determined the exchange rate between the first and second currencies
to be favorable towards the second currency in that transaction. The
CEREM 210 may look at these transactions using the second currency and
identify time periods in which users 105 utilized the second currency
more, or less, than they had in the past. The degree of second currency
utilization may indicate the degree of favorability in the exchange rate.
For example, if use of the first currency is represented by function
Cf and use of the second currency by function Cs, then plotting
Cs-Cf may yield the favorability factor of the second currency
at any given time as shown in FIG. 3b. In some embodiments the CEREM 210
may code the favorability factor in a real number, for example, or in
other ways including but not limited to, a discrete number of
favorability indicators, or a binary indicator of favorable or
unfavorable.

[0037] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example system 400 for
determining an exchange rate favorability factor across multiple sites.
The CEREM 210 may be coupled with first site 110 and second site 120.
First Site 110 may include a data storage device 305A, the data storage
device 305A containing consumer transaction data 310A. Second Site 120
may include data storage device 305B, the data storage device 305B
containing consumer transaction data 310B.

[0038] In various embodiments first site 110 may conduct business in U.S.
dollars and second site 120 in U.K. pounds. For example, consumer
transaction data 310A may be for transactions in dollars and consumer
transaction data 310B may be for transactions in pounds. In other
embodiments sites 110 and 120 may be associated with other currencies.

[0039] The CEREM 210 may analyze both sets of consumer transaction data
310A and 310B to determine a favorability factor between the currencies
of sites 110 and 120. The CEREM 210 may determine the first currency by
the user's 105 association with a site. For example, a user 105 may be
registered on the U.S. site 110, thereby indicating that the first
currency is dollars. The CEREM 210 may then determine how many
transactions the user 105 conducted on the U.K. site 120, using pounds as
the second currency. The CEREM 210 may continue its analysis in a manner
similar to that previously described with regard to FIG. 3a.

[0040] FIG. 5 is a network diagram depicting a client-server system 500,
within which one example embodiment may be deployed. A networked system
502, in the example forms of a network-based marketplace or publication
system, provides server-side functionality, via a network 504 (e.g., the
Internet or Wide Area Network (WAN)) to one or more clients. FIG. 5
illustrates, for example, a web client 506 (e.g., a browser, such as the
Internet Explorer browser developed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond,
Wash. State), and a programmatic client 508 executing on respective
client machines 510 and 512.

[0041] An Application Program Interface (API) server 514 and a web server
516 are coupled to, and provide programmatic and web interfaces
respectively to, one or more application servers 518. The application
servers 518 host one or more marketplace applications 520 and payment
applications 522. The application servers 518 are, in turn, shown to be
coupled to one or more database servers 524 that facilitate access to one
or more databases 526.

[0042] The marketplace applications 520 may provide a number of
marketplace functions and services to users that access the networked
system 502. The payment applications 522 may likewise provide a number of
payment services and functions to users. The payment applications 522 may
allow users to accumulate value (e.g., in a commercial currency, such as
the U.S. dollar, or a proprietary currency, such as "points") in
accounts, and then later to redeem the accumulated value for products
(e.g., goods or services) that are made available via the marketplace
applications 520. While the marketplace and payment applications 520 and
522 are shown in FIG. 5 to both form part of the networked system 502, it
will be appreciated that, in alternative embodiments, the payment
applications 522 may form part of a payment service that is separate and
distinct from the networked system 502.

[0043] In some embodiments, the front end 205 may be any or all of the
components of system 502. In some embodiments the CEREM 210 may be a
marketplace application 520, part of another marketplace application 520,
or it may be a component of the application server(s) 518. In some
embodiments the listing evaluation module 215 may be a marketplace
application 520, part of another marketplace application 520, or it may
be a component of the application server(s) 518. In some embodiments the
data storage devices 305, 305A, or 305B may be stored, in whole or part,
in database 526. In some embodiments system 502 contains multiple sites,
for example, sites 110 and 120. In other embodiments a system, such as
networked system 502, may exist for each site, the multiple networked
systems 502 being coupled to each other.

[0044] Further, while the system 500 shown in FIG. 5 employs a
client-server architecture, the inventive subject matter is of course not
limited to such an architecture, and could equally well find application
in a distributed, or peer-to-peer, architecture system, for example. The
various marketplace and payment applications 520 and 522 could also be
implemented as standalone software programs, which do not necessarily
have networking capabilities.

[0045] The web client 506 accesses the various marketplace and payment
applications 520 and 522 via the web interface supported by the web
server 516. Similarly, the programmatic client 508 accesses the various
services and functions provided by the marketplace and payment
applications 520 and 522 via the programmatic interface provided by the
API server 514. The programmatic client 508 may, for example, be a seller
application (e.g., the TurboLister application developed by eBay Inc., of
San Jose, Calif.) to enable sellers to author and manage listings on the
networked system 502 in an off-line manner, and to perform batch-mode
communications between the programmatic client 508 and the networked
system 502.

[0046] FIG. 5 also illustrates a third party application 528, executing on
a third party server machine 530, as having programmatic access to the
networked system 502 via the programmatic interface provided by the API
server 514. For example, the third party application 528 may, utilizing
information retrieved from the networked system 502, support one or more
features or functions on a website hosted by the third party. The third
party website may, for example, provide one or more promotional,
marketplace or payment functions that are supported by the relevant
applications of the networked system 502.

Marketplace Applications

[0047] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating multiple applications 520
and 522 that, in one example embodiment, are provided as part of the
networked system 502. The applications 520 may be hosted on dedicated or
shared server machines (not shown) that are communicatively coupled to
enable communications between server machines. The applications
themselves are communicatively coupled (e.g., via appropriate interfaces)
to each other and to various data sources, so as to allow information to
be passed between the applications or so as to allow the applications to
share and access common data. The applications may furthermore access the
one or more databases 526 via the database servers 528.

[0048] The networked system 502 may provide a number of publishing,
listing and price-setting mechanisms whereby a seller may list (or
publish information concerning) goods or services for sale, a buyer can
express interest in or indicate a desire to purchase such goods or
services, and a price can be set for a transaction pertaining to the
goods or services. To this end, the marketplace applications 520 are
shown to include at least one publication application 600 and one or more
auction applications 602 which support auction-format listing and price
setting mechanisms (e.g., English, Dutch, Vickrey, Chinese, Double,
Reverse auctions etc.). The various auction applications 602 may also
provide a number of features in support of such auction-format listings,
such as a reserve price feature whereby a seller may specify a reserve
price in connection with a listing and a proxy-bidding feature whereby a
bidder may invoke automated proxy bidding.

[0049] A number of fixed-price applications 604 support fixed-price
listing formats (e.g., the traditional classified advertisement-type
listing or a catalogue listing) and buyout-type listings. Specifically,
buyout-type listings (e.g., including the Buy-It-Now (BIN) technology
developed by eBay Inc., of San Jose, Calif.) may be offered in
conjunction with auction-format listings, and allow a buyer to purchase
goods or services, which are also being offered for sale via an auction,
for a fixed-price that is typically higher than the starting price of the
auction.

[0050] Transactions resulting from the auction applications 602 or the
fixed-price applications 604 may be stored in the database 526. In some
embodiments the transactions will contain the user and the currency in
which the transaction was conducted.

[0051] Personalization applications 610 allow users of the networked
system 502 to personalize various aspects of their interactions with the
networked system 502. For example a user may, utilizing an appropriate
personalization application 610, create a personalized reference page at
which information regarding transactions to which the user is (or has
been) a party may be viewed. Further, a personalization application 610
may enable a user to personalize listings and other aspects of their
interactions with the networked system 502 and other parties, including,
for example, specifying a preferred, domestic, or associated currency.

[0052] The networked system 502 may support a number of marketplaces that
are customized, for example, for specific geographic regions. A version
of the networked system 502 may be customized for the U.K, whereas
another version of the networked system 502 may be customized for the
U.S. Each of these versions may operate as an independent marketplace, or
may be customized (or internationalized) presentations of a common
underlying marketplace. The networked system 502 may accordingly include
a number of internationalization applications 612 that customize
information (and/or the presentation of information) by the networked
system 502 according to predetermined criteria (e.g., geographic,
demographic or marketplace criteria). For example, the
internationalization applications 612 may be used to support the
customization of information for a number of regional websites that are
operated by the networked system 502 and that are accessible via
respective web servers 516.

[0053] Navigation of the networked system 502 may be facilitated by one or
more navigation applications 614. For example, a search application (as
an example of a navigation application) may enable key word searches of
listings published via the networked system 502. A browse application may
allow users to browse various category, catalogue, or inventory data
structures according to which listings may be classified within the
networked system 502. Various other navigation applications may be
provided to supplement the search and browsing applications. In some
embodiments the CEREM 210 and/or the listing evaluation module 215 may
further enhance the navigation applications 614.

[0054] Messaging applications 628 are responsible for the generation and
delivery of messages to users of the networked system 502, such messages
for example advising users regarding the status of listings at the
networked system 502 (e.g., providing "outbid" notices to bidders during
an auction process or to provide promotional and merchandising
information to users). Respective messaging applications 628 may utilize
any one of a number of message delivery networks and platforms to deliver
messages to users. For example, messaging applications 628 may deliver
electronic mail (e-mail), instant message (IM), Short Message Service
(SMS), text, facsimile, or voice (e.g., Voice over IP (VoIP)) messages
via the wired (e.g., the Internet), Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS),
or wireless (e.g., mobile, cellular, WiFi, WiMAX) networks.

Data Structures

[0055] FIG. 7 is a high-level entity-relationship diagram, illustrating
various tables 700 that may be maintained within the databases 526, and
that are utilized by and support the applications 520 and 522. A user
table 702 contains a record for each registered user of the networked
system 502, and may include identifier, address, preferred or associated
currency, and financial instrument information pertaining to each such
registered user. A user may operate as a seller, a buyer, or both, within
the networked system 502. In one example embodiment, a buyer may be a
user that has accumulated value (e.g., commercial or proprietary
currency), and is accordingly able to exchange the accumulated value for
items that are offered for sale by the networked system 502.

[0056] The tables 700 also include an items table 704 in which are
maintained item records for goods and services that are available to be,
or have been, transacted via the networked system 502. Each item record
within the items table 704 may furthermore be linked to one or more user
records within the user table 702, so as to associate a seller and one or
more actual or potential buyers with each item record.

[0057] A transaction table 706 contains a record for each transaction
(e.g., a purchase or sale transaction) pertaining to items for which
records exist within the items table 704. Each transaction table 706
record may contain the user and the currency involved in the transaction.
For example, if Bob, a user, purchased a pair of shoes and the listing
and payment were in U.S. dollars, the transaction table 706 record for
the transaction may contain that information. In other embodiments, the
transaction table 706 record may indicate other tables where the user and
currency involved in the transaction may be found.

[0058] An order table 708 is populated with order records, each order
record being associated with an order. Each order, in turn, may be with
respect to one or more transactions for which records exist within the
transaction table 706.

[0059] Bid records within a bids table 710 each relate to a bid received
at the networked system 502 in connection with an auction-format listing
supported by an auction application 602. A feedback table 712 is utilized
by one or more reputation applications 608, in one example embodiment, to
construct and maintain reputation information concerning users. A history
table 714 maintains a history of transactions to which a user has been a
party. One or more attributes tables 716 record attribute information
pertaining to items for which records exist within the items table 704.
Considering only a single example of such an attribute, the attributes
tables 716 may indicate a currency attribute associated with a particular
item, the currency attribute identifying the currency of a price for the
relevant item as specified by a seller.

Flowcharts

[0060]FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 800 for
currency weighted cross border listing exposure. In various embodiments
the method 800 may be performed, for example, by the components shown in
FIGS. 2-6, including the CEREM 210 and the listing evaluation module 215.
In alternative embodiments other components may be used to perform method
800.

[0061] At 805 an exchange rate favorability factor, or simply favorability
factor, may be determined between a first currency and a second currency
by the CEREM 210. For example, the first currency may be U.S. dollars and
the second currency may be U.K. pounds. Dollars may be the preferred or
associated currency of a user 105. The exchange rate may be favorable if,
after the exchange rate is applied to listings in pounds, dollars have
more purchasing power, indicating that the dollar is strong against the
pound. In some embodiments the favorability factor may be a number,
indicating both favorability and degree of favorability, or it may be a
discreet value indicating favorability and degree of favorability, for
example: extremely unfavorable, unfavorable, neutral, favorable, and
extremely favorable. In other embodiments the favorability factor may be
a simple binary value, for example, unfavorable or favorable.

[0062] The favorability factor may be determined from an outside source,
for example, a financial services provider, or it may be determined by
examining transaction data present within system 200. Transaction data
may come from data storage devices 305, 305A, 305B, or database 526.
Pertinent data may be stored in any of the tables shown in FIG. 7. In
some embodiments the favorability factor may be determined in advance of
a user 105 search. In other embodiments the favorability factor may be
determined following, or in response to, a user 105 search.

[0063] At 810 a user 105 search request may be executed, for example by
the front end 205. Executing the search request may produce a number of
listings results, i.e., results containing listings, and those listings
may contain listings in the first currency and listings in the second
currency. For example, if user 105 requested a search for shoes from
first site 110, first site 110 being a U.S. site transacting in dollars,
the listings results may include U.S. listings as well as U.K. listings
from second site 120.

[0064] At 815 the listing evaluation module 215 may receive the listings
and the favorability factor. The listing evaluation module 215 may then
apply the favorability factor to the listings in the second currency to
weight them. The listing evaluation module 215 may then determine, based
on the listing weights, which listings to present and in what order the
listings should be presented. In other embodiments, other weights may be
applied to the listings. For example, if five listings have listing
weights: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and the user will be presented with three
listings, then the listings corresponding with the weights: 1, 2, and 3,
may be presented and ordered such that the listing with weight 1 is
presented first and the listing with weight three is presented last. In
some embodiments the favorability factor may simply trigger a number of
listings in the second currency to present. In some embodiments, the
number of listings in the second currency may be capped. In some
embodiments, presenting listings includes managing listing impressions,
where a listing impression is the number of times the listing is viewed
across multiple users 105. To put it another way, when using the listing
weights to determine whether to present a listing to a particular user,
the number of times a given listing has been seen by other users may be a
factor. For example, when managing listing impressions, if the listing
weight for a particular listing indicates that it should receive two
impressions and it has already been viewed by two users, it may not be
shown to a third user.

[0065] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 900 for
determining an exchange rate favorability factor, for example, at 805 in
FIG. 8 or by the CEREM 205.

[0067] At 910 users 105 may be identified who typically use, or prefer, a
first currency in which to transact business. The identification may be
made by the currency of a site the user 105 is registered with. For
example, if a user 105 is registered with the U.S. site (site 1) 110, the
user 105 may be identified to prefer, or be associated with, dollars. In
some embodiments the first currency may be determined by analyzing the
transaction data 310 for that user 105. For example, the user 105 may
have used dollars in more transactions over the user's 105 transaction
history than any other currency. In some embodiments the first currency
may be any currency that is used at least as often as any other currency.
In some embodiments a subset of the user's 105 transaction history may be
used. In other embodiments, the user may elect a preferred, or
associated, currency. For example, the user election may be stored in a
user profile. Personalization applications 610 and/or table 702 may be
involved in various embodiments to store the user's 105 currency
preference or association.

[0068] At 915 transactions are identified from the consumer transaction
data 310 where users 105 identified at 910 utilized the second currency
when completing the transaction. In various embodiments the consumer
transaction data 310 may be collected from multiple sites, for example,
first site 110 consumer transaction data 310A and second site 120
consumer transaction data 310B. In other embodiments the consumer
transaction data 310 may be aggregated into a data warehouse.

[0069] At 920 the CEREM 210, for example, may compare users' 105 use of
the first currency against their use of the second currency. For example,
if an average number of transactions is determined, and the first
currency is used most of the time, identifying periods of time in which a
user 105 chooses to use the second currency more frequently than outside
the time period may indicate that the user 105 has determined that the
exchange rate is favorable with respect to the second currency. More
sophisticated comparisons may also be made, such as determining a
probability that a user 105 will use the second currency and noting time
periods where the consumer's actual use of the second currency is higher
than suggested by the probability. It will be understood that many
mechanisms may be used to compare the transactions in the first and
second currencies to find indicators that a user 105 finds the exchange
rate favorable during certain time periods.

[0070] After use of the first and second currency is compared, a
favorability factor may be determined. In various embodiments the
favorability factor may simply be a binary value reflecting the
favorability. In other embodiments, analysis may be done on the number of
transactions, the number of users, or other data, to arrive at a
favorability factor indicating both the favorability, and the degree of
favorability.

[0071] FIG. 10 shows a diagrammatic representation of machine in the
example form of a computer system 1000 within which a set of
instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the
methodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternative
embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device or may be
connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment,
the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine
in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a
peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a
server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet
PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular
telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any
machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or
otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,
while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also
be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or
jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any
one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

[0072] The example computer system 1000 includes a processor 1002 (e.g., a
central processing unit (CPU) a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both),
a main memory 1004 and a static memory 1006, which communicate with each
other via a bus 1008. The computer system 1000 may further include a
video display unit 1010 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a
cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1000 also includes an
alphanumeric input device 1012 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control
device 1014 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1016, a signal generation
device 1018 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device 1020.

[0073] The disk drive unit 1016 includes a machine-readable medium 1022 on
which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 1024)
embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described
herein. The software 1024 may also reside, completely or at least
partially, within the main memory 1004 and/or within the processor 1002
during execution thereof by the computer system 1000, the main memory
1004 and the processor 1002 also constituting machine-readable media.

[0074] The software 1024 may further be transmitted or received over a
network 1026 via the network interface device 1020.

[0075] While the machine-readable medium 1022 is shown in an example
embodiment to be a single medium, the term "machine-readable medium"
should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a
centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and
servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term
"machine-readable medium" shall also be taken to include any medium that
is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for
execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or
more of the methodologies of the inventive subject matter. The term
"machine-readable medium" shall accordingly be taken to include, but not
be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and
carrier wave signals. The term "tangible machine-readable medium" shall
be taken to include, machine-readable media that is in tangible form,
including, but not limited to, solid-state memories, optical media, and
magnetic media.

[0076] Thus, a methods and systems for currency weighted cross border
listing exposure have been described. Although the inventive subject
matter has been described with reference to specific example embodiments,
it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to
these embodiments without departing from the broader scope of the
inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are
to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

[0077] The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.
§1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to
quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted
with the understanding that it will not be used to limit the scope or
meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed
Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in
a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This
method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention
that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly
recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive
subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed
embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the
Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate
embodiment.